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- Past hour
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Yep and is still currently my A cam. It’s going to become C cam after the next job, but only because a pair of S1Rii’s will be in the house by then and my future approach of shooting hybrid 2x identical units albeit with a different focal length on each and in 7.2k open gate allowing me to additionally pull the highest res stills I can whilst retaining open gate for 16:9 and 9:16 edits. If they ever do make a mkII version with nothing more than the S1Rii sensor, I’d be all over that. But they won’t as the S9 body has no fan. I would like to see a cinema style body a la FX line though…
- Today
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Yes 👋 My name is Simon. I was a full-time Fuji user from 2011-2020, but I then managed to kick that habit and have been 1537 days Fuji sober. But seriously, whilst there is not that much difference in body sizes, depending on the body such as a full-frame 6k open gate shooting Lumix S9 is much smaller than some more recent M4/3 options, it’s the lenses where the biggest difference tends to be. APSC obviously sits between M4/3 and full-frame and I personally think it’s now a bit of a meh option, being somewhat ‘less’ than full-frame and not having the ‘smallest, lightest, fastest’ ability of M4/3. And when I say fastest, I am referring more to AF speed if that is important to you because from experience, the Olympus/OM options trump Fuji in that department. I still can’t see past a mint OG (digital) Olympus OM-1 with perhaps a single one & done lens, the 12-40mm f2.8 giving you FF equivalent of 24-80mm. Plus the action cam. I would happily set off tomorrow to travel around the world for a year with that Oly option.
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Had one of my first intense shoots with the S9; this was a concert with a well-known rapper in the Christian Music scene. Used the Panasonic S9 with my Sigma 18-35 (haven't sold it yet). So was using the APSC crop mode; honestly this is a great faux-APSC camera, image quality still phenominal and noise performance isnt bad. I filmed using the 3.3k 4:3 mode which is lovely and allowed me to really easy make a 9:16 edit while still framing for 16:9 or 2:35:1 as well. It's nice too that I can do 48p or 60p without a FOV increase. I am content with this mode so don't have a massive urge to sell my Sigma 18-35 and get proper full frame glass. Eventually i will though. Double aspect ratio markers on the S9 is sweet; I had a 2:35:1 AND 9:16 aspect ratio marker going at once making framing for both mediums so easy. IBIS is so good; I filmed 90% with e-stabilization set to high; this did crop pretty heavy but you forget about it when shooting, and the performance was so good I rarely had to post-stabilize and could easily replicate gimbal tracking shots with a heel-toe walk and holding the camera a bit loosely. The cage and hand-grip definitley helps, and I don't find the camera to be uncomfortable; the Sigma 18-35 is definitely front heavy, but the setup is still a lot more comfortable than my old Z6 with the Atomos Ninja V bolted on. I will say over time the smallrig handle seems to come slightly loose so i have to tighten it every now and then, but when not shooting I also tend to hold the camera in one hand by the grip. Other notes: Battery life is great. Only used two batteries for the entire shoot filming multiple concerts over a few hours. Didnt' even fully run through the second. Lack of viewfinder is not a dealbreaker for me as I only do video; screen could use to be a bit brighter but still usable in direct sunlight. The rear dial feels so cheap; you can easily nudge it half-way between its click points. I don't like it. At least it's very functional. I do find the function button placements to be good, and i can efficiently change settings. A joystick would have been cool. Lack of hot-shoe a non-issue for me as I am 98% video. If I really need it I can whip out my Nikon Z6 for photo work. Camera never overheated once, and it was a very hot day. Definitely love this camera. I do see myself picking up an S5 II on ebay down the line, but I don't see myself ever needing anything better; just would like weather sealing and a more robust build. But the S9 is still totally usable as an A-CAM and can work really well in that capacity if your needs are comparable to mine. Given that I paid $860, its easy to overlook the flaws of this camera.
- Yesterday
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Does anyone have anything to say about the Fuji XT cameras?
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Tulpa reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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Tulpa reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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I just saw my first 360 material from a bike last night and although it was interesting to be able to cut back and forth from multiple angles, I just couldn't get past how distorted everything was on the wides... and it seems to me that this doesn't go away when cropping in. Maybe I need to check out some other material to get a better sense of things... but I like it that you've thrown this option into the mix. Thanks!
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Thank you for the FX suggestions... I'd overlooked these units. And yes, the decision on how to store and backup files certainly comes into the picture. I guess it's a matter of price and connection speed which are the variables. I'll keep your Blackmagic suggestion in mind. Hard work... yes! It's one thing to show up somewhere, rent a flat, and then plug into a city for material. Quite another to do it from a moving bicycle. The good news is that others have done it with impressive results.
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Tulpa reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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Thank you for pointing this out eatstoomuchjam. Entirely true on the dust factor... I'd say that this can actually be more important that rain.
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Tulpa reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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Well said Kye, thank you. I've seen your work over the years, it's impressive just how much you are able to ring out of your bodies and lenses. Seriously. And yes, the S9 and 28-200 seems like it can deliver as a smaller unit. I wonder how much larger things get when professional audio comes into play.
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Tulpa reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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Good to have your extra and revised insights here John. Thank you. Yes, a combination of an action camera and a decent smaller unit seems the way to go. However, I think we'd agree that it would be great to have just one robust unit that we know and trust. But, of course, everything is a compromise. With so many variables, I never put much faith into 'weather' sealed ratings. Sometimes one just has to spend and put these things through their paces until they just no longer work. Then grab a new one, and keep going. "There are so many good choices. It almost makes you say "screw it" and just use whatever you have with its limitations. If you're a creative, this is usually better." - This! Finally, at the end of the day, we know a camera should be mostly intuitive to use... and get the hell out of the way. I know that @Kye like the GH bodies... but notice no one here has said much about the GH7 as a work horse. It would be such a solid contender if they could get that low light up a bit. Correct?
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Tulpa reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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Well said. And truth be told, I've never felt exactly comfortable in front of the camera... but I do like to be taken by the hand by other filmmakers as they lead me through unconventional stories that move the heart and imagination.
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Not yet. Last job (this weekend) and next (Tues & Wed), in a 2 job transition phase until the second S1Rii arrives and then I will be properly. Well, next job after the second S1Rii should have arrived, I'll be making a final final decision, but I think I'll hold on to it purely, as above, spare/gimbal/slow mo as the 2x S1Rii's take over the principal clip capture role. But if I decided to sell, outside of MPB, I'll sell it to my favourite purchaser of my used gear 😉 Yep. Very high quality build. There are 2 charger types and they look almost identical, except the built in power bank version is slightly bigger. They have options for various brands but the Lumix power bank version is not available yet. Battery life also seemed better this last job because over 2 days shooting >1500 Jpeg + Raw's, I only went through approx 1.5 batteries, so getting close to 1k stills per battery?
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I’d also be interested in the pwer bank charger. When I’m out and about I use a normal Lumix charger with a power bank but a all in one solution sounds good! The company is called Llano?
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Thpriest reacted to a post in a topic: Panasonic Lumix S1R Mark II coming soon
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Have you used the S1Rii for video? How is it? If you do sell the S9 I might be interested. Josh Cameron on Youtube recommended the Tilta multi battery charger. I bought it and it’s been a great change. Only 50€ as well.
- Last week
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Katrikura reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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Katrikura reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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John Matthews reacted to a post in a topic: Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?
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I agree. The ability to reframe in post is incredible. It even goes beyond that because you are essentially recording every camera angle at all times, so if there was something that happened around you, you could cut between multiple angles of the same event. Even if you were psychic and were always pointing your normal camera in the best direction at all times, you couldn't record multiple angles at the same time with one camera, so it goes even beyond the mythical psychic camera person. I saw a great example of this many years ago.. it was a guy recording his family walking through a fairground with mum and the kids walking behind him. The sequence was something like: his kids calmly looking around someone in a scary costume approaching from ahead his kids not seeing them scary monster seeing the kids and having the idea to scare them and starting to approach mum seeing him and smiling, knowing what is about to happen the kids suddenly seeing him and reacting very suddenly / loudly the monster reacting to their reaction the kids laughing the monster laughing mum laughing monster walking away It was essentially a three-camera shoot, and like all good reality TV I'm pretty sure he overlapped the shots to extend the event, which probably only took about 5 seconds. The killer thing is that just by having a 360 camera you're recording all the camera angles all the time, so when the thing happens you've probably got all/most of the angles to show it happening. Just get the one with the highest resolution and highest bitrates. When you crop in you're drastically reducing the quality of the footage.
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Isn’t the question “what camera should I take in addition to the Insta360?” Thats the starting point. Size wise FX2/3/30 might be worth looking at? I suppose it all depends, too, on the intended audience - family & friends, film festival submission, BBC documentary etc. I think if I was undertaking such a mammoth project I’d want a decent cloud account to offload files as I go. The Blackmagic offering might be worth investigating? Sounds fun. And hard work!
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Just pointing out that "weather sealing" is useful for more than just filming in the rain. It's also protection against dust (which is a very common problem in arid areas). It's protection against something in your bag breaking open and leaking on the camera. Or your tent leaks in the rain at night and you had your camera sitting out. Or you just drop it in a puddle/fountain/shallow water for a second. And yes, it is good to understand how weatherproof something really is, but simply having gaskets around a lot of the buttons and on the lens mount is a big deal. And sealing on a zoom lens can be even more important in a dusty area so that zooming the lens doesn't suck in a ton of dust.
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And now due to the overreach of the online safety bill in the UK, the government are determined that they will be in the room with us. With regard to the look, have you got anywhere local to you that has featured in a programme/film that you like ? Might be an idea to take a screen grab, put it on your phone as reference for framing and basic time of day and see if you can take some footage to get anywhere close to emulating it.
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Now we're getting into it! Terminology isn't our friend in these discussions, but it doesn't mean we can't make some headway. What I want to achieve is a look that I have only seen in moving images made for cinema and high-end moving images made for TV (e.g. GoT etc). I call this "cinematic" or "cinema" because everything I have ever seen in the cinema had this look (except for that one 3D movie I watched - yuck). What I don't want is something that looks different to what I've seen in the cinema. I call this "video" for want of a better word. I've seen plenty of things made for cinema / high-end TV and plenty of home video and in my perception there is a very clear distinction between them, and everything that doesn't look like cinema looks like video to me. My logic is that some things are required (you can't get the look without them) and others are deal-breakers (you can't get the look with them). So far my testing has shown that: 24p/25p are required, 30p/60p are deal-breakers 180-shutter, but acknowledging that this can vary if there's a reason for it (e.g. Saving Private Ryan) Harsh clipping is a deal-breaker Also, some things aren't absolutely required (because I've seen the look without them): Actors and dialogue aren't required because Koyaanisqatsi didn't have them and still had the look Artificial lighting or modifiers aren't required because I've seen examples were they weren't present (e.g. LINK) Anamorphic lenses Shallow DOF But, those aren't enough. So, some other things I think might be in the mix: Film or authentic film emulation isn't required because not all films have it (most do but not all), however all films either have film or a professional colourist who has done lots of stuff so there might be something they're doing that is required Black-levels are on my radar too. Camera shake / drift may be a deal-breaker despite being used for some parts of movies Widescreen. I suspect this isn't required, but maybe it helps. Not sure. Resolution probably doesn't matter unless it's above a certain threshold. Sharpness probably matters a lot as having too much breaks the illusion. Grain isn't required as modern films won't have any, but it might impact sharpness and it is probably required to manage banding in low-bitrate streams I've also seen people like Gawx pull off the look shooting the kinds of things I shoot, so I know it's possible. My challenge is that I can follow all the rules I have identified and it's still not enough, so I know there are other ingredients that matter than I haven't identified. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that we see the world differently. You say that filmmakers like Lynch or Soderbergh have used DV or even iPhones and still delivered pure cinema, but it just didn't look right to me. Maybe you're referencing something I haven't seen, but the things I have seen looked like smartphone videos, so I suspect it's a case of them either not having something that is required for me, or that they had something that's a deal-breaker for me (e.g. 30p). Unsane by Soderbergh looked absolutely terrible, Tangerine looked like it was shot on an early smartphone (because it was) and Behold by Ridley Scott looked absolutely terrible at 30p. Even when I slow it down to 24p (which gives it the advantage of being in slow motion) some shots still look like smartphone video, which is a type of video look that is a looooong way from looking like cinema. When I first started shooting video I couldn't tell the difference between 24p and 60p, now I can't stand 60p or 30p. When TV was introduced to Britain people looked at their tiny little B&W TV's and said "It's like they're here in the room with us". Maybe no-one else here is seeing what I am seeing, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist and doesn't mean I don't want it and doesn't mean I don't know it when I see it. I don't really care about what "cinema" is, but there's a look that high-end productions consistently have that I am trying to achieve, and so far I haven't worked out what all the required pieces are.
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I also doubt that "weather resistant" is sufficient for the random deluges that are likely to happen over that duration of trip, although it's absolutely worth reading the manufacturers description of what "weather resistant" means, just so you know what they are thinking of when they use the phrase. It might be a lot more (or less) than what you might be thinking. This is something I have pondered for some time but haven't gotten around to. Better to just get something completely waterproof and be done with it. Then you can record in monsoon rains and get good footage of waist-deep water, which would be a highlight of the doco in itself. I would also suggest that the "bad weather low-light" situation isn't really that important. Realistically, if it's bad weather due to rain or due to dust at night then you can't see that much anyway. Just turn on your bike lights or headlamps and film the chaos. My setup doesn't cover the "long-zoom low-light" combination because it's not a thing that you need to shoot normally, and while it would be great to have, I have only ever wanted this combination for taking shots out of the hotel window at night in Seoul, and that's hardly a situation to design my whole setup around. I'm also surprised at how compact the 28-200mm lens is on the S9, it seems quite manageable.
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I'm going to revise my choice for this type of use. Camping and biking mean to me that one camera might not suffice if going Panasonic. I do not think that the OM-3 will give acceptable levels of noise inside a tent at night unless with a small light; nor do I believe the S9 by itself will give acceptable levels of weather resistance (by the way, I doubt the Panasonic 14-140 does either even though it's rated weather resistant). Therefore, I would still go for the S9 with a 18mm f/1.8 lens for dark, inside a tent scenes and the 28-200. For bad weather, I'd get an action cam. This will eliminate bad-weather low light; maybe pick up a camera cover for the S9. At MPB, that setup will set you back 2500 euros. The other option is the "do everything" set-up with the OM-3 with the Olympus 14-150 ii and the Panasonic 9mm for about the same amount of money, but you'll be spending more on the camera (double!) for less quality output (but still great). If you are a disciplined shooter that usually uses a tripod and manual focus, there are options that will cost way less. That OM-3 setup is about 950g and the S9 + action cam setup is 1300g. Note: Camera size doesn't have the Panasonic 18mm list, but it's the same size as the 24mm. Again, this is for 10-bit with great IBIS and AF being the priority. I'd go with a much cheaper setup if it were me. I wouldn't want to take that expensive of gear out into the unknown. It's a close call though. There are so many good choices. It almost makes you say "screw it" and just use whatever you have with its limitations. If you're a creative, this is usually better.
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Indeed. These kind of productions seem to be as much about the presenter as they do the subject/location with every scene being, “here’s me on my epic adventure and here’s me talking to an impoverished local and here’s me deeply respectful at the local temple”. Ie, if it isn’t about you, you can skip all that shit. Some folks are famous because they are in front of the camera and others from being behind.
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This is hilarious… and exactly true! 😂 The other option is to just put this upcoming project aside and join a Buddhist monastery… but I’m going to try to take one last run at this type of thing and see what kind of ‘happiness’ it leads to. Lets see…
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@Tulpa If you are buying from scratch and don't have a lot of lenses etc in a particular format that you want/need to use then I'd be looking at this camera too. It is smaller and lighter than even the very compact GX-80/85. Compared to the bigger MFT offerings in the G and GH series then it is even more of a stark difference in form factor but it is also dramatically cheaper. Video specs, it shoots 4:2:2 10-Bit and has the open gate mode which for this sort of expedition might well be beneficial to you as you can more easily reformat the footage in different aspect ratios for social media etc. It has the colour profiles for ease of use but it also shoots in both flavours of F-Log so you can roll your own look. Lens wise, it has not only got a huge back catalogue of native lenses (a lot of which have stabilisation) and are plentiful on the used market but it also has a lot of fast compact 3rd party lenses like Viltrox which are available at the sort of prices we all remember MFT lenses being back in the day ! Obviously, it has the larger sensor too.... The "downsides" would be considered to be the lack of IBIS and having what appears to be a vague degree of weather resistance - I couldn't find any definitive answers on that one. The lack of IBIS may well actually prove to be a blessing in disguise if the camera is going to spend any amount of time on the handlebars while you traverse over what for large chunks of the journey will be less than smooth surfaces. Wear and tear over three years will be bad enough without throwing the fragile mechanisms into the mix. There is a reason why shows such as Top Gear went with the IBIS-less GH5s (although I'm not sure if the story of show wanting to use the GH5 minus it was actually the trigger for Panasonic to make that version is apocryphal or not). Whatever way you go, I'd spend some research time on the best shock mounting options as it will be a point of failure for any camera that you go with over that period of time. As for the weather sealing... Back in the dark distant past when I was a professional sports photographer using battleships like the D3/D4/D5 etc they could take a hammering but as soon as the rain/sleet/snow became a bit too much none of us were taking that chance that they were immune to it so out would come the covers for both the bodies and the lenses. Think Tank make good ones but they are all designed for bigger cameras rather than the X-M5 so on a more prosaic level, these are cheap and cheerful at less than £11 for a pack of four and won't take up much space. On a trip like this when you are likely going to encounter very real weather, I wouldn't take any chances with the weather sealing rating vague or otherwise of smaller cameras.
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Wow folks, this is exactly the kind of extra insights and support I was hoping for here. Thank you so much and hats off to all of you! Really 🙂 It's clear that some of you @kyereally understand the actual logistics of trying to pull something like this off while maintaining focus on the basics. @John Matthews Big thank you for getting right to the heart of which bodies and lens choices you would employ, this says a lot! @MrSMW for questioning those choices. And of course eatstoomuchjam for helping to get this party started. Clark, Tbonne and IIka for your insights as well. I need a little time to go through the various camera bodies and lens combinations now and respond further, but please feel free to add anything extra if you feel that it will benefit. I'm super grateful for anything you guys can add beyond what has already been started. With the logistics of the bicycle, bicycle equipment, route and camera/ laptop and actual story, you can see that this is a lot of balls in the air... so another huge thanks for your wise insights here folks! 🙏